So another one of my new year’s resolutions for 2014 is to live a more greener lifestyle and one of the easiest ways I plan to do that is recycling. I used to be a heavy recycler during my college years and I want to get back that especially now since my garage is filled with recycleable items (old cds, computer monitor and keyboard, old books, plastic bottles etc). By recycling, I can finally clear out my garage while keeping the Earth clean and free of debris that unfortunately leaks harmful chemicals into the environment.

Did you know that the U.S. plastic bottle recycling rate is less than 30 percent? So less than one-third of all plastic bottles get recycled. Most people don’t think about what happens to plastic bottles after you recycle them. So Repreve is on a mission to get the word out: Just recycle more. And buy REPREVE products.”

So what is REPREVE?

REPREVE is a recycled fiber that helps turn plastic bottles you recycle into cool stuff you can wear and use every day and they are one of the major sponsors for the upcoming XGames in 2014. Now there’s no excuse not to recycle! Learn more about Repreve here.

Many brands and products use Repreve to make their products greener:

• Volcom graphic t-shirts are made with REPREVE, using 2 recycled plastic bottles.
• One Patgonia fleece jacket with REPREVE has 40 recycled plastic bottles, so you can be a real “active-ist.”
• Life Khaki by Haggar uses REPREVE to put 7 recycled plastic bottles in every pair of pants; so wear what you believe.

Other brands made with REPREVE include: Patagonia, The North Face, Polartec, Volcom, and BlueAvocado by LC, among many others.

Watch this cool video on how Repreve is made into cool stuff you wear and use!

What Repreve is doing is pretty amazing, right?

To help you live a more sustainable lifestyle, I’m sharing 5 more top tips that you can do today to help reduce your environmental impact, save money, and live a happier, greener life.

Tip #1- Purchase products that won’t hurt our environment (Ex: Some of the mentioned brands that use Repreve).

Tip #2- Ride your bike, or walk if work isn’t too far away for you (Will help you save money on gas).

Tip #3- Use reuseable cups like to keep your drinks, like coffee, hotter and cold drinks, like water, colder.

Tip #4- Unplug appliances when you’re not using them.

Tip #5- Make purchases from organic or locally grown farms instead of common grocery stores.

Contest

Repreve is also hosting a contest to celebrate the XGames! To enter, all you have to do is share an image or video on twitter, vine, or instagram about how you live a more sustainable life through recycling or reusing materials and use the hashtag #turnitgreen and tag @Repreve. There will be 4 finalists picked at random, and then those 4 finalists image or video with the most votes will win a $5, 000 cash prize. The other 3 will win a Repreve jacket and go-pro camera (retail valued over $500). Repreve is accepting entries from 1/17/14- 2/02/14 (If you entered before 1/17, re-submit it). Voting will take place from 2/3-2/8 and the winner will be selected 2/10/14.